Natural gas advances on stockpile decline

Natural gas futures advanced in New York after the Energy Department said U.S. stockpiles fell 38 billion cubic feet last week to 3.873 trillion.

Gas for December delivery gained 6.9 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $3.901 per million British thermal units at 12:01 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gas was trading at $3.842 before the storage report was released at noon.

Analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg showed a decline of 28 billion cubic feet. A survey of Bloomberg users predicted inventories would fall by 30 billion. The five-year average change for the week is an increase of 3 billion cubic feet, department data show.